Longhair

The longhair mouse was introduced to the English fancy in 1966 by Tony Jones, who obtained the first longhaired mouse from a laboratory. The variety was standardised just three years later in 1969. The current standard states "The longhaired mouse shall have a coat as long as possible combined with density and to be silky in texture. The colour may be that of any standard variety".The gene responsible for producing longhair is recessive. It is uncertain which gene exists in the UK fancy. Writing in 1977, Tony Cooke attributed longhair to the angora gene (go), which is also what some US breeders believe their fancy has (and it is referred to as either angora or longhair interchangeably) - however, in 2008 JAX claimed to maintain the only colony of angora mice. The UK and US versions of longhair differ in that the US mice display better coats i.e. have longer fur despite not being intensively bred for exhibition. For years there has been a perception that we may have different genes at work, but without bringing the two genes together for test matings there is no way to settle the debate. However, many breeders now think that UK longhair and US angora/longhair is the same gene.Longhair is not popular with serious exhibition breeders in the UK and there are few people working with it. The current longhairs seen on the show bench are of poor type and size and need a lot of work. Unfortunately longhairs show their coat off to its best advantage as babies, and when they grow into adults tend to look as though they have a shaggy untidy coat.